Neo-Latin Literature Research Articles

MEDICAL ISSUES AND PEOPLE IN VIEW OF THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LATIN WORKS PUBLISHED IN KRAKÓW

This paper investigates the Latin works dealing with medicine and physicians, published in seventeenth-century Kraków. The main purpose of the research is to present the leading persons of academic medicine working in those times in this city and to follow through the selected works, which constitute a part of Neo-Latin literature in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The scholastic way of the discourse did not always mean overuse of the authorities, however both ancient and modern were being evoked. By presenting the segment of the medical milieu of seventeenth-century Kraków, namely those academics who published their works there, the author claims that sometimes the neglected Latin editorial production of the Cracovian printing shops is an important part not only for the history of the development of medicine in this region of Europe but also for the cultural heritage of the state's community. Although the Latin language might enable the broader extent of these medical works, most of them were addressed to a particular scientific public. The essay shows that many medical doctors were known for their activities in various fields, such as poetry and city management, and that the panegyrical works may serve as one of the sources of recognition of their biographies and medical output as well.

Carmen de bisonte in English and for an International Audience – a Critical Review of and Supplement to Frederick J. Booth’s Bilingual Edition

The publication of a Latin-English edition of Nicolaus Hussovianus’ “Carmen de bisonte” in 2019 is a highly significant event as it makes this canonical text of Old Belarusian (as well as Lithuanian) literature accessible to a broad, international and interdisciplinary audience. This article analyses in detail the merits and shortcomings of Frederick J. Booth’s edition. It proposes some alternative translations, adds information that was not accessible to the classical philologist, and highlights the relevance of recent discoveries that change our knowledge about Hussovianus’ origin and biography. Designed as a kind of interface between research communities that are scarcely connected, the article demonstrates what we can and should learn from each other. With emphasis on the significance of working with the original old print, a subchapter of the article acquaints the reader with the figures in “Carmen de bisonte” and analyses the emblem on the last page of the book. It shows a picture of the Roman god Terminus, framed by quotes in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. This emblem served in the 1520s as a printer’s device for a “humanistic series” of the Krakow publisher Hieronymus Vietor. The fact that it was built upon an iconic symbol used by Erasmus of Rotterdam exemplifies what aroused Booth’s initial interest in CdB : the pan-European scope of Neo-Latin literature and the close connectedness of regions which in his academic youth were separated by the Iron Curtain.

Non Ennarabile Textum: Allusive Ekphrasis in Francisco Javier Alegre's Alexandrias

Neo-Latin literature in colonial New Spain has a rich history that has only in recent years garnered broader interest from scholars. One of the most unique works produced in New Spain during this time is Jesuit scholar Francisco Javier Alegre’s Alexandrias, an epic that depicts Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Phoenician city of Tyre. As there is scant scholarship analyzing the literary elements of the Alexandrias, this paper focuses only on Alegre’s usage of ekphrasis—a detailed description of an object—in book one of the epic, rather than attempting to explore every allusive aspect in this dense text. Th rough allusive ekphrasis, Alegre elegantly incorporates the work of ancient poets such as Ovid not only to highlight his own ability as a poet, but also to subtly address topics that would otherwise be inappropriate for a Jesuit priest to write about. In addition to this more noticeable usage of allusion, Alegre’s specific manipulation of poetic language in this scene also reveals a potential reading of Alexander the Great as a historical analogue to Hernan Cortés, both of whom gained fame through conquest. Analysis of this text—even through an allusive lens alone—reveals the intricacy with which Alegre and his contemporaries were composing their works, and emphasizes the value of deeper investigations into Neo-Latin literature.

Henriko Valua išrinkimo Abiejų Tautų Respublikos valdovu vaizdavimas lotyniškoje prancūzų poezijoje: „J. de La Gessée“ Henriada ir jos autorius

In 1573, Henry de Valois, Duke of Anjou, was elected as the king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and some literary works were published to familiarize the French public with the history of Poland and Lithuania, the geographical and economic situation of the country. Some Polish historical works were translated into French (e.g. the chronicle of Jan Herburt of Felsztin), many poets wrote occasional poems, dedicated to the future king, in French, Polish, and Latin. This article aims to discuss the poem Henrias, dedicated to Henry de Valois, written in Latin by a French poet under the pseudonym Jean de La Gessée, – a rare and completely unexplored work until today. Henrias was addressed not only to the future king but also to the court, the French diplomats and ambassadors of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Henry de Valois is portrayed here according to the tradition of Renaissance epic poetry by using an ethical model of the ruler’s “virtues” and by discussing the ruler’s place in history, linking him both to the mythological origins of the French nation (to the myth of Trojan ancestry), and to the former rulers of Poland and Lithuania (the ruler is depicted here as the successor of their policy). The poet also presented a description of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – the future reign of Henry de Valois – in accordance with the literary tradition of 16th-century representations of Poland–Lithuania. To be noted, this is the first description of Poland–Lithuania in French poetry in Latin and one of the first in all French poetry. The author also wrote an unpublished larger-scale heroic epic Poloniade in French, dedicated to Henry de Valois, but it has not survived. This article also serves as an introduction to the biography and works of this not-well-known poet and discusses the problem of the authorship of his works. It is highly probable that the authorship was so far misattributed and that the author’s name is just a pseudonym of another court poet – talented and highly educated courtier Louis d’Amboise, as shown by the many details, hidden in his poems, including biographical facts (in all his works) and the anagrams of his name (in his Latin poems). Henrias and other Latin poems of this author (e.g. Epigrammatôn … libri duo) show the direct and close contact of the author with the royal entourage, top politicians, and foreign diplomats. It is unlikely that the author was a newcomer protestant Gascon, looking for success in Paris because Henrias was undoubtedly written at the king’s request and was very well paid (as well as the Poloniade). It shows that the author was a Catholic and he was quite familiar with the history and political realities of Poland–Lithuania. Keywords: 16th century; Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; Henri III, Henri de Valois; 1573 ruler election; Latin Lituanica; neo-Latin literature; 16th-century occasional poetry; 16th-century French literature; Henrias; Jean de La Gessée; Louis d’Amboise.

La trayectoria del cardenal Serra (c. 1427-1517). Clientelismo, gobierno y promoción artística hispana en la Roma del Renacimiento

This article reconstructs the trajectory of Jaime Serra (c. 1427-1517), a Valencian ecclesiastic and “maestro teólogo” who served the Borja family, reaching the highest positions in the Curia as cardinal and governor under four successive popes. A confidant of the vice-chancellor Rodrigo de Borja -later Alexander VI- he was sent to the Iberian Peninsula to oversee the affairs of the Duke of Gandia (1483-1496), and then to Umbria and Romagna to restore papal authority (1499-1503). Of robust constitution and gifted with a clever if hard tongue, the Cardinal proved himself to be an effective ruler, even if his moral reputation suffered from his female company. Despite sporadic misunderstandings with Julius II, he adapted to post-Borgian Rome, helping Pope della Rovere in the schismatic crisis, and Leo X in his ascent to the throne -he himself had toyed with that goal during the first balloting of 1513. Politically he opted for the Spanish and Venetian alliance, while maintaining a friendly relationship with Ferdinand the Catholic, which showed up especially in his promoting the African campaign and exalting its triumphs. His ecclesiastical benefits allowed him to promote notable prelates, and to maintain a household -close to a hundred people- who led a festive and literary life animated by humanists (Marcellino Verardi, Baltasar del Río) and playwrights of the caliber of Juan del Encina. His patronage places him at the forefront of the cardinals who consolidated Spanish power in the Eternal City, and contributed to enhancing the prestige of Spanish letters, neo-Latin literature and artistic forms of the Roman Renaissance -which may be seen in the Chapel of Santiago founded by him.

Ratis aemvla solis.

La gloriosa singladura de la Nao Victoria circunnavegando por primera vez la Tierra dio pie a un sinfín de festejos y celebraciones públicas. Se pasa revista a la huella poética que tan singular gesta ha dejado, entonces y andando los siglos, en la literatura vernácula y neolatina, huella que, si bien no es muy extensa, abarca desde el encomio puro y la epopeya heroica al símil o parangón como fórmula de sobrepujamiento. The glorious voyage of the ‘Nao Victoria’ circumnavigating the Earth for the first time gave rise to endless festivities and public celebrations. A review is made of the poetic imprint that such a singular feat has left, then and over the centuries, in vernacular and Neo-Latin literature, an imprint that, although not very extensive, ranges from pure praise and heroic epic to the simile or paragon as anoutbidding formula.

El mono filósofo. Presentación de El mono de Heidelberg, cuento de Michael von Albrecht

Michael von Albrecht, el gran catedrático emérito de Filología Latina y autor, entre otras obras pioneras, de la monumental Historia de la literatura romana, publicó en 1989 un cuento en latín con el título de De simia Heidelbergensi (El mono de Heidelberg). El objetivo de esta presentación es proporcionar al lector un breve panorama sobre esta preciada joya de la literatura neolatina y presentarle, al mismo tiempo, la actualidad que lo recorre, capaz de trascender la ficción cuentística. Michael von Albrecht, great Emeritus Professor of Latin Philology and author, among other pioneering works, of the monumental History of Roman Literature, published in 1989 a short story in Latin under the title De simia Heidelbergensi (Heidelberg's Monkey). The objective of this presentation is to provide the reader with a brief overview of this precious jewel of Neo-Latin literature and reveal, at the same time, current events that run through it, capable of transcending short story fiction.

Simone Poggi’s Neo-Latin Fables: a Jesuit in the Footsteps of Phaedrus

The Italian Jesuit Simone Maria Poggi (1685-1749) was an outstanding member of the “Academy of Arcadia”, where he was known as Nimesius Ergaticus. He wrote ten books of Latin fables under the inspiration of Phaedrus. These apologues were published posthumously by Giuseppe Boero in 1883. In their composition, the Jesuit from Bologna used iambic senarii, the metre employed by Phaedrus, and tried to adapt the Roman fables to his time and circumstances. In this article, I will offer an overview of Poggi’s Latin fables paying special attention to his prologues, epilogues and programmatic fables, in which, following Phaedrus’ example, our poet gives many clues about his sources and literary interests along with autobiographical issues. I will focus my research on Poggi’s relationship with his predecessors and on his conception of the fable not only as a literary subgenre but also as a very useful educational tool. Summing up, my aim will be to show that Poggi’s fable collection constitutes a remarkable and curious product of Phaedrus’ influence on Neo-Latin literature in the eighteenth century.

Continuity and Rupture: Comparative Literature and the Latin Tradition

Studies of the Latin tradition played a major role in the formation of Comparative Literature as a discipline. In spite of their shared origins, the disciplines of Neo-Latin studies and Comparative Literature are today rarely brought into dialogue with one another. This article argues that such dialogues can be mutually productive, and that Neo-Latin literature exemplifies, and itself engages with, some of the key problems at issue in the latest dispensations of Comparative Literature. Ideas of cosmopolitanism and transnationalism, of bilingualism and the dynamic interactions between languages, energized Neo-Latin writing (and energize Neo-Latin studies today). Writers in the post-classical Latin tradition devoted great efforts to working through many of the problems and dichotomies that interest comparatists today: from defining the ‘literary’, to asking what it means for literary forms and a literary language to cross historical, cultural, and national borders. Using the classical theme of recusatio (‘refusal’) as a case study, I explore the ways in which Neo-Latin writers thematized in their writing a sense of the continuity and universality of literature which was nevertheless always threatened by rupture and fragmentation.

Bigámia nászajándékba: Samuel Spillenberger nászéneke Máriássy János és Palugyay Zsófia esküvőjére (1635)

The present article discusses a set of poems registered in print nr. 1620 of the Régi Magyarországi Nyomtatványok catalogue. The poem was dedicated by a doctor of medicine from Levoča, Samuel Spillenberger to his alleged godson, the nobleman János Máriássy. Spillenberger wrote three poems in the name of each married brothers of Máriássy. The second poem, allegedly sang by Máriássy’s youngest brother, András, tells a story about a bigamist crusader from the 12th century. After presenting the family backgrounds of both the author and the addressees, the paper sheds light on the origin and possible sources of the story. Pointing out some specific textual properties of Spillenberger’s poem, the paper tries to trace down its exact source. It also offers a panoramic picture about the presence of the bigamist figure in German neo-Latin Literature and culture from the 16th to the 19th century. Finally, the article closes with some remarks about the position of the poem in its own literary context of seventeenth-century neo-Latin wedding poetry in Hungary.

Nowołaciński przekład dzieł św. Jana od Krzyża w kontekście europejskiej Latinitas doby Renesansu i Baroku

The author focuses on issues relate to Neolatin translations, illustrating the basic assumptions of the so-called Jesuit baroque translation of the works of St John of the Cross, prepared by Andrzej Brzechwa (1584–1640), the first Polish Discalced Carmelite. Latin translations from vernacular languages became popular as early as the end of the Middle Ages, e.g. Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, thanks to its translations in prose and verse into the Romans’ language, found readers all over Europe. Brzechwa’s translation was in many respects a pioneering work, but it has not been scientifically reviewed yet. Although it does follow the extremist assumptions of Latin Baroque poetry (pure style, classical vocabulary), its rich workshop and preparation are laudable: an example may be the equivalent of the popular Spanish stanza proposed by Brzechwa: the so-called lyre in the form of the classic Sapphic stanza. This article, after a brief review of the distinctive features of Neolatin literature of the 17th century, analyses the grammatical and rhetorical layers of Brzechwa’s translation. It presents strategies for translating key phrases of the prose and poetry of St John of the Cross, comparing Brzechwa to one of the greatest representatives of Polish Latin Baroque, Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640).

A Guide to Neo-Latin Literature

A Guide to Neo-Latin Literature

John Beveridge, the Neo-Latin Horatian Ode and the Narrative of British Colonialism in Eighteenth-Century North America

The composition of Neo-Latin poetry was integral to the bilingual literary culture of eighteenth-century Britain, and the practice was taken by the British colonists to America. Yet the role of this Neo-Latin verse in the new political, religious and social setting of early North America has remained largely unexplored. This article examines the Latin Horatian odes published by the colonial poet John Beveridge in his Epistolae familiares (Philadelphia, 1765), a collection of Latin verse epistles. Beveridge used his Latin poetry to not only describe but justify British colonisation of North America. His appropriation of Horatian models for the colonial experience was influenced by the later reception of Horace’s poems which attributed religious and political significance to them – in order to reflect the moral, religious and cultural superiority of Christian Europeans in America. By exploring the cultural symbolism of Latin poetry, this article enables a greater understanding of the place of Neo-Latin literature in the colonial endeavour to Anglicize, Europeanize and Christianize America.

Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland, edited by Steven J. Reid and David McOmish

Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland, edited by Steven J. Reid and David McOmish

Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland. Steven J. Reid and David McOmish, eds. Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 260. Leiden: Brill, 2017. xi + 300 pp. $167.

Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland. Steven J. Reid and David McOmish, eds. Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 260. Leiden: Brill, 2017. xi + 300 pp. $167. - Volume 71 Issue 2

Humanism and Spanish Literary Patronage at the Roman Curia: The Role of the Cardinal of Santa Croce, Bernardino López de Carvajal (1456-1523)

This article aims to analyze the role of Bernardino Lopez de Carvajal's (1456 Plasencia-1523 Rome) as a literary patron, namely his contributions to humanism in Rome and to Spanish letters, in the period that has been loosely identified as Spanish Rome. Carvajal held the dignities of orator continuus of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, titular cardinal of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme , and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and was even elected antipope with the name of Martin VI in the conciliabulum of Pisa (1511) against Julius II. A cultivated man and a lover of poets, he belonged to the avant-garde of humanists devoted to create a body of Neolatin and Spanish Literature that would both foster the Spanish presence at Rome and leave a mark in the Spanish literary canon. He sponsored a considerable body of works that celebrated the deeds of the Catholic Kings and those of the Great Captain, Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba. He also commissioned literary translations, and was involved in the production of theatrical pieces, such as those of Baltasar Torres Naharro.

Reid and McOmish (eds), Neo Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland

Reid and McOmish (eds), <i>Neo Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland</i>

Neo-Latin literature in nineteenth-century Europe: an overview

ABSTRACTTo date, neo-Latin studies have been hardly concerned with the nineteenth century, let alone the twentieth century. It would seem that literature written in Latin (called ‘neo-Latin literature’ from the Renaissance onwards) had completely lost its significance. However, recent research has shown that Latin verses were still quantitatively and qualitatively important, even if they no longer enjoyed the same popularity as in previous centuries. This article is a synthesis of what we know about neo-Latin literature in nineteenth-century Europe. The first section discusses the question of its quantitative and qualitative significance. Section 2 deals with the specific features of the neo-Latin literature in the nineteenth century. Section 3 presents the situation in Germany in order to give a more precise idea of the phenomenon. The aim of this article is to provide an impetus for further investigation in the field and to cast light on a facet of the nineteenth century that has long been forgotten.

Unitas multiplex: John Barclay’s notion of Europe in his Icon animorum (1614)

ABSTRACTDespite the growing research on the emergence of the term ‘Europe’ in the Early Modern Period and its implications, concepts and conceptualizations, most studies rely on vernacular sources exclusively. The vast and even unclear amount of Neo-Latin literature processing the discourse on Europe and European identity has yet attracted only little interest. With its proper investigation starting now, the following article aims to make a corresponding contribution by examining a treatise of one of the most prominent Neo-Latin writers of the seventeenth century, John Barclay (1582–1621). The treatise in question, entitled Icon animorum (1614), has received scant attention in modern Neo-Latin scholarship so far, notwithstanding its early modern popularity, its excellent Latin and its famous author. The article will thus atone for the lack of both the work’s literary and historical credit. The argument will show that with his Icon, Barclay has not just created a description of European nations typical of his time, but that he has, in fact, reached out to a supranational concept of Europe according to the principle of ‘unity in diversity’.

The Same in Polish, or Peculiarities of Bilingual Occasional Poetry in the Eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The paper addresses eighteenth-century occasional poetry of Lithuania written in parallel Latin and Polish. The research seeks to draw attention to bilingual creation as a literary phenomenon that reflects the linguistic priorities and cultural needs of the time, and to reveal the most distinct semantic and artistic peculiarities of bilingual occasional poetry. As a phenomenon of Lithuanian neo-Latin literature, bilingualism has not yet been addressed in detail in scholarly historiography. Only an article by Eugenija Ulčinaitė, in which she introduces linguistic expression, semantics and stylistics of sixteenth to seventeenth-century Lithuanian bilingual texts is devoted to this thematic. Research in eighteenth-century occasional poetry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has shown that parallel texts occur in nearly all poetry genres, but they were most popular among epigrams. Language variants of the works can be written both by the same and by different authors. Comparative analysis of texts has shown that when the primary – Latin – content is conveyed in Polish, it can be modified or complemented with information relevant to the dedicatee. Such alteration causes semantic and stylistic differences and creates a shift in the emotional tone of a work. Despite the fact that both – Latin and Polish – versions of a work are officially dedicated to the same dedicatee, the group of recipients seems expanded. It is quite possible that the Latin version is addressed to the individual named in the title, while the Polish version is meant for the general public or people lacking in education necessary to understand the Latin text. The need to convey the same content in Polish points to the vitality of occasional literature and its universally perceived purpose.